WORKSHOP GUEST: Terry Moore on the Importance of Great Characters!

In this month’s Comics Experience Creators Workshop Book Club, special guest Terry Moore shared a wide range of knowledge about the craft, art and business of comics.

Moore’s work is known for its strong characterizations, and realistic, vividly-drawn protagonists. During the book club discussion of Echo: The Complete Edition, writer/artist Moore discussed the role characters can play in attracting new readers, and in creating a body of work that will stand the test of time.

"Katchoo is more famous than SiP," said Moore, referring to one of the protagonists of his legendary series Strangers in Paradise. "And that’s the point. Whether you read the book first or hear about Katchoo first, it all leads you to my book. And I want you to read my books."

During the session, one attendee asked if all of Moore’s stories take place in the same universe, and Moore replied that they do.

"The plan is that all my stories happen in the same country at the same time, in the same reality," Moore said. "Any of these characters could encounter the other."

Moore said this idea came, in part, from Robert Heinlen, who wrote more than 100 books all sharing the same universe. Even if the characters didn’t cross paths, Moore said, the events in one book might create ripples that would be felt in the next.

Even as a child, Moore said, he was attracted to serialized work, particularly the books of Ian Fleming, Enid Blyton and Arthur Conan Doyle.

"I realized that if someone can make a cast of characters that people love, those characters last longer than someone who writes 20 unrelated books," Moore said. "Harry Potter is a good example of that. What if JK Rowling had written seven unrelated books? It would be different than seven books chronicling one set of characters."

By leaving behind one huge universe, Moore said, it will be easier for future readers to discover and to enjoy his work.

"I’m just one guy trying to write as many books as I can before I die, and I want the world to read my stuff," Moore said. "If I leave a lot of miscellaneous books in my wake, it’s gonna be very hard for people to ever find one or get attached to my work. If I leave a set of characters, it’s a lot easier for readers to get attached to the characters."

This was just one of many topics in the 90-minute book club session. A recording of the full session will be available to Creators Workshop members for the next few weeks.

Those interested in learning more about Terry Moore and his work (including Strangers in Paradise, Echo and the currently-ongoing Rachel Rising) can go to www.terrymooreart.com.

Creators Workshop Book Club sessions take place every month, featuring guest writers and artists discussing the craft and art of comics, as well as the business side of the comics profession. Additionally, monthly workshop sessions feature special guests giving members real-world knowledge that will help them succeed in their comics career.

For our next live Workshop session on Tuesday, December 20, 2011, we'll be joined by special guest Michael Alan Nelson! Michael is the writer of the hot new BOOM! comic book, Valen the Outcast, which has been described as an "undead Conan" story filled with sword and sorcery action.

And our next Book Club guest, on Tuesday, January 10, 2012, will be writer Scott Snyder, discussing his work on American Vampire from Vertigo/DC Comics.

Read more about these great upcoming guests right here.

There’s still plenty of time to sign up before the next session. We hope to see you there.

-- Posted by Paul Allor

WORKSHOP GUESTS: Mark Waid on Digital & the Comics Industry

Legendary comics creator Mark Waid stopped by the Creators Workshop last month to share his thoughts on digital comics and the changing comics industry.

During the session, Waid laid out the economic forces that make it so difficult for a small publisher to make it with print comics, and make digital comics a more viable option. Waid noted that many forms of print media, including magazines and books, face declining sales figures, and comics are no exception.

“Sales continue to dwindle on monthly installments, even as they continue to rise on trade paperbacks, and even as they continue to rise on web comics,” Waid said.

And as sales go down, printing costs go up. The Big Two publishers print hundreds of thousands of books each month, and the economy of scale helps to keep their costs down. In other words, because they have far larger orders, they are able to negotiate a lower price.

But mid-list publishers pay 70 to 75 cents per issue in printing costs, while small publishers and individuals can pay between $1.00 and $1.20 per issue, said Waid, who noted that he was using ballpark figures.

On the other end, Diamond Distributors only returns about $1.60 on a $4 comic book.

“So, the physical cost of printing the comic has now become the single most expensive part of publishing for most guys,” Waid said. “It’s only going to get worse as print continues to suffer, as paper stocks dry up, as more and more guys get out of the printing business because there’s no real future in it. [Printing costs] are only going to go up.”

Waid described this as “the bad news.” The good news, he said, is that digital comics “are a way to eliminate the single greatest cost of producing stuff.”

He also noted that digital comics democratizes the medium.

“If I do a good webcomic or you do a good web comic or any of the [Comics Experience members] do a good webcomic, they can get equal coverage,” Waid said. “They can get equal exposure. The web levels the playing field.”

Web comics also don’t face the same issue of shrinking readership. “I guarantee Scott Kurtz’s PVP is read by more people than Deadpool,” he said. “I guarantee that Penny Arcade is read by more people than half the DC stuff.”

The full archive of Waid’s session will be available for several weeks to Comics Experience members. It includes his thoughts on monetizing comics on the web, and why digital creators should start creating in landscape format.

Waid is currently the writer and creator of Irredeemable and Incorruptible, a pair of ongoing titles from BOOM! Studios, set in the same superhero universe. He also recently began a critically acclaimed (and wildly-entertaining) run on Daredevil for Marvel Comics.

Creators Workshop sessions take place every month, featuring special guests giving members real-world knowledge that will help them succeed in their comics career. Additionally, monthly Book Club sessions feature guest writers and artists discussing the craft and art of comics, as well as the business side of the comics profession.

Later today, writer/artist Terry Moore, will be joining us for a Creators Workshop Book Club discussion of Echo, The Complete Edition. Terry Moore is a legendary creator who writes, draws and publishes comic books through his own imprint, Abstract Studio. Additional guests will be announced soon.

There’s still plenty of time to sign up before the next session. We hope to see you there.


-- Posted by Paul Allor

WORKSHOP GUESTS: Terry Moore LIVE on Tuesday, 12/6/11!

Tomorrow night, Tuesday, December 6, 2011, writer/artist Terry Moore, will be joining us for a Creators Workshop Book Club discussion of Echo, The Complete Edition!

Terry Moore writes, draws and publishes comic books through his own imprint, Abstract Studio.


Terry has also worked for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image and others. His work has won many awards, including the Will Eisner and Harvey Awards.

His first series, Strangers In Paradise, was a 107-issue epic that ran from 1993-2007.

His current project is the on-going horror series, Rachel Rising, about a woman who wakes up in a shallow grave in the woods and discovers the murdered body in the dirt is her own.

Beginning in 2008, Terry launched Echo, a sci-fi series about atomic power and two women who share the same body.

We'll be discussing Echo with Terry, in total, at the next Book Club session!

Join us at the Creators Workshop to take part in this sure-to-be great discussion with Terry!

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you'll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Rob Anderson
rob@ComicsExperience.com
Twitter / Facebook

WORKSHOP GUESTS: Mark Waid & Terry Moore Coming Soon!

We have two comic book giants joining us LIVE at the Comics Experience Creators Workshop soon, and there's still time for you to join us at these online sessions!

For our next live Workshop session on Tuesday, November 29, 2011, we'll be joined by special guest Mark Waid!

With over twenty years of experience in his field, Mark Waid has written a wider variety of well-known characters than any other American comics author, from Superman to the Justice League to Spider-Man to Archie and hundreds of others.

We'll be discussing a wide range of comics-related topics with Mark, but in particular we'll be discussing his thoughts on the "digital revolution" in comics, as it relates to people creating new works today. Mark has been vocal (and fascinating) on this topic at this year's ICv2 Conference and at SDCC. He pulls no punches, so it should be quite a conversation! (Photo of Mark Waid by Luigi Novi.)

And, we're pleased to announce that on Tuesday, December 6, 2011, writer/artist Terry Moore, will be joining us for a Creators Workshop Book Club discussion of Echo, The Complete Edition!

Terry Moore writes, draws and publishes comic books through his own imprint, Abstract Studio.

Terry has also worked for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image and others. His work has won many awards, including the Will Eisner and Harvey Awards.

His first series, Strangers In Paradise, was a 107-issue epic that ran from 1993-2007. His current project is the on-going horror series, Rachel Rising, about a woman who wakes up in a shallow grave in the woods and discovers the murdered body in the dirt is her own.

Beginning in 2008, Terry launched Echo, a sci-fi series about atomic power and two women who share the same body. We'll be discussing this amazing series with Terry, in total, at the next Book Club session!

Join us at the Creators Workshop to take part in these sure-to-be great discussions with Mark and Terry!

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If you want to make comics, write, draw, letter, and color comics, or improve as a comics creator, you'll find like-minded friends and colleagues in our online workshops and courses. We hope to see you there!

Posted by Rob Anderson
rob@ComicsExperience.com
Twitter / Facebook